Fan Thoughts on "Show Me The Place"

[MarieM]

Jarkko and I would like to collect the fans' response to "Show Me The Place." We hope that some of these might be included on leonardcohen.com. Therefore, your thoughts on the new song need to be fairly short, no longer than 4 or 5 sentences. Also, please include your first name and your country. If you are fluent in more than one language, it might be nice to write your thoughts in your native language with an English translation. "Show Me the Place" has already been well received by the media but we know forum members are more qualified to describe this song, so let's hear it. Thank you.

Jarkko and Marie

[MarieM]

To kick things off --

"Show Me The Place" is an exquisite example of what Leonard does best, enter the heart and mind, often against our will. I don't ever begin listening to Cohen expecting to be so overthrown. I listen for the musical experience but inevitably I am taken to a place where suffering is acknowledged, explained, forgiven and lessened. "Show Me The Place" does all that. That is more than enough, but in the Cohen world we are allowed to want more and I can't wait to hear the rest of the songs on Old Ideas.
Marie, United States

[svennybenny]

"Show me the place" klingt wie der Hilferuf eines Suchenden, Irrenden, Unwissenden. Tröstlich zu wissen, dass nur die Narren glauben, alles zu wissen.

For me "Show me the place" sounds like a cry for help of someone who is searching, straying, unknowing. It's comforting that only fools think they know everything.

Sven (Germany)

[majmunka]

What I love best in Show Me The Place is not something "great" like meaningful deep lyrics or enchanting melody (while those things are there, definitely) but the informal quality which makes me feel like he's humming it directly into my ear, only for me, only to me, his precious secret thoughts and doubts.

Amit a legjobban szeretek a Show Me The Place-ben az nem valami "nagy" dolog, mint a mélyértelmű szöveg vagy az elbűvölő dallam (bár ezek is határozottan megvannak), hanem az a közvetlenség, amitől úgy érzem, hogy egyenesen a fülembe dúdolja, csak nekem, a legtitkosabb gondolatait és kétségeit.

Eva
(from Hungary)

[Stamatina]

Όταν χάνεις την πίστη σου, όταν ο κόσμος σε πληγώνει, όταν μένεις μόνος και ψάχνεις μια κλωστή για να πιαστείς, είναι κάτι τραγούδια σαν το Show Me The Place που σε σώζουν. Η μελωδία σε ηρεμεί, τα λόγια μιλούν στην ψυχή σου και η φωνή του Λέοναρντ σε τυλίγει και σε δένει με τον εαυτό σου. Η μουσική και η ποίηση εκπληρώνουν το σκοπό τους σ' αυτό το τραγούδι.

When you lose your faith, when the world wounds you and when you're alone and looking for a thread to hold onto, it's some songs like Show Me The Place that save you. The melody calms you, the words speak to your soul and Leonard's voice overwhelms you and binds you with your own self. Music and poetry fulfill their purpose in this song.

Stamatina (Greece)

[remote1]

The beautiful intensity of this new song enthralls me. The world stops and I enter another realm of emotion. A rich, soothing voice takes over, the warm sound of a violin moves the air. I am in touch with the depth of human spirituality. Nothing easy going, nothing pretty. The authentic feeling of being lost, being trapped, longing for deliverance. And the comfort of a generous soul, that of Leonard Cohen.

Natalie, UK

[LisaLCFan]

“Show Me The Place” is absolutely beautiful. Leonard Cohen’s sublime voice makes me realize how profound love can be, and touches me so very deeply. The gentle melody evokes the feeling of floating on air as the world dissolves around me. This song is a masterpiece.

Lisa (Canada)

[holydove]

With this hauntingly beautiful song, Leonard Cohen once again holds my heart in his extremely capable hand. The intense intimacy of his rich, profound voice, along with the provocative poetic imagery & mesmerizing melody, ignites an infinite spectrum of emotions & draws me into a mystifying realm of love, longing, sorrow, hope, beauty & ecstasy, in which I want to stay forever. As this song penetrates my being, the holes are filled, things hidden are thrown loose, & I may be lost in the debris, but I am soothed by the assurance that I am not alone. This I know for sure: Leonard Cohen is ever the master that he has always been.

Rachel (U.S.)

[Inna]

"Show Me the Place" is a prayer of one, who, in the midst of an impending catastrophe, is asking for guidance, one who is deeply familiar with suffering and pain, and who, nevertheless, finds strength to pray for hope, thus suggesting there perhaps is a glimpse of it for us all.

Inna, Israel.

[TipperaryAnn]

Tá "Show Me The Place" go h-álainn ar fad. Tá draíocht speisialta ag baint leis, dar liom - uaigneach ach sólásach, brónach ach dóchasach. Leonard leochaileach, mar atáimid go léir, go h-áirithe in aois - "I can't move this thing alone", ach fós ag strachailt leis an saol, ag iarraidh treorach, ag aimsiú solais. Is breá liom éisteacht leis arís agus arís. Comhgairdeas le gach éinne páirteach ann.

"Show Me The Place" is really beautiful. There is a special magic about it, I think - lonely yet consoling, sad yet hopeful. Leonard is vulnerable, as we all are, especially in old age - "I can't move this thing alone", but still battling on in life, seeking guidance, finding light. I love listening to it over and over again. Congratulations to all involved.

Ann, Ireland.

[Cheshire gal]

'Show me the Place' is a song that will not be soon forgotten. I look forward to seeing how it fits in with the rest of the story. January 31st 2012 cannot come soon enough for me.


Marie U.S.A.

[dreamermusic]

Sometimes songwriters try hard to get a complex tune, complex and elaborated chords and lirycs, but what is true is that the simnplest thing is what most remains in people's head. This is the case of this song, the beauty and the nakedness of sinmplicity. The narrator's voice here is that of an old man (...the place I've forgotten...) Amnesia appears as a sign of the age. The voice is praying, asking for help, surrendered like a slave of love who will do everything he is asked to. It is the return to the 'dust' and 'mud' we all are made of, where 'the Word became a man' (or flesh), where 'the suffering began'. It's Death. It's the return to the Creator.

A veces los compositores intentan lograr una melodía compleja, letras y acordes complejos y elaborados, pero lo cierto es que lo más sencillo es lo que más permanece en la cabeza de las personas. Este es el caso de esta canción, la belleza y la desnudez de la simplicidad. La voz del narrador aquí es la de un anciano (...el lugar que he olvidado). La amnesia aparece como signo de la edad. La voz está rezando, pidiendo ayuda, rendida como un esclavo del amor que hará cualquier cosa que se le pida. Es el regreso al 'polvo' y al 'barro' del que todos estamos hechos, donde 'la Palabra se hizo hombre' (o carne), donde 'comenzó el sufrimiento'. Es la Muerte. Es el regreso a nuestro Creador.

Daniel Granado, Spain

[B4real]

This is an entreaty for assistance; a plea to a stronger force for support and direction. Leonard’s raw searching poignant voice contrasts with the gentle floating feeling of the old world melody and that juxtaposed combination subsequently draws you along on his journey whether you are ready to travel with him or not. “Show Me The Place” will do just that – take you to and show you a place of vulnerability and searching.

Bev, Australia

[Violet]

I thought to put together some of the thoughts I've written on this on another thread, and I reworked them a bit, so they might carry outside of that more personal context:


on: Show Me the Place

It's very much a spiritual, and was entirely moving to listen to. Simple, too, and open feeling.. and somehow terribly sad—though, maybe not.. not entirely. Hopeful, yet resigned.

I said "simple," though maybe deceptively so..

.. there is the layering of meanings.. that of Leonard’s speaking to his God.. as well, his lover. Maybe there's something too to why it makes me smile, as well as feel sorrowful. It’s to do with an awareness of just how humble we all are in love, and life—given how little we can truly know of such things.. if we're to be honest, that is. But, in Leonard’s acknowledgement of this.. well, it pulls on all our heart strings, I feel.

.. and.. in his finding a truth through the lyrics and melodies he writes.. there is something that carries over.. and it starts to circle around just who, through time, he’s shown himself to be. Something sad and sorrowful, but not only sad and sorrowful.. self knowing, but so often to do with "not knowing".. and, in a sense, humorous, even.. or, maybe it's ironic—but as a stance.. in the sense of there being nothing to do about it. Accepting.

.. and still, there is the want.. the engine driving it.. the longing.. if only to be the lover slave. Dutifully so.

v i o l e t

x

[JudasPriest]

Show Me The Place is a good song aspiring to greatness without ever reaching it due mainly to a certain uncharacteristic clunkiness to one or two of its lyrics which deny an emotional payoff the music demands. One more important point: On a technical level, the pasting of Leonard's voice over the music is horrible. It's so noticeable at the start and particularly the conclusion of the track that its charm and partial spell is shattered. Please fix this before its release and don't let other tracks be ruined by the same flaw. I'm still hopeful the album can be a classic though.

Garret (Dublin)